Electric railway signaling device.



WPATENTEDVSIEPTI 10, I907 E, B. HOWELL. I ELECTRIC RAILWAY SIGNALING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25; 1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

' vwenlio -n I .PATBNTED SEPT. 10,1907. E. B. HOWELL. v ELECTRIC RAILWAY SIGNALING DEVICE.

APPLIUAIION FILED JUNE 25. 1906.

nmsewsi V 'PATENTED SEPT.1Q-,1907.

E. B. HOWELL.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY SIGNALING DEVI GE.-

APPLIOATION FILED J-UNE 25. 1906.

4 8 HEBTSSHEET 3.

PATENTBD SEPT. 10, 1907. E. B. HOWELL. I ELECTRIC RAILWAY SIGNALING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25, 1906'. v 4 SHEETSSHEET 4 qmmmm {INITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD :B. HOWELL,

OF BUTTE: MONTANA.-

v ELECTRIC RAILWAY SIGNALING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent;

Patented Sept. 10,1907.

Application filed Ju 26,19 fleriul N 323,377.

' To all whom it may I I ing Devices, of which the following. is a specification.

This invention relatesto electric signaling devices for railway trains or vehicles, and especially to those systems in which asignal is given automatically in each of two vehicles approaching each other'on the same track, when they come within a predetermined'distance of each other.

I The invention also has reference to systems in which My invention comprises a plurality of insulated wires stretched near the railway track and parallel with each other, some wires being divided into insulated sections, and the joints between these sections being staggered.

0n eachvehicle such asa locomotive, is placed a battery and a bell-or other electrically operated signal, to-

- gether with a normally closed switch. These elements are connected in series and the terminals of the circuit are connected bysuitable conductors with two contacts or brushes mounted. on a carrier or' shuttle which is arranged to travel on two of the wires and is connected with the vehicle by a flexible cable in which the conductors are embodied. Bythisconstruction, the bat- 'tery and hell are always in circuit with the line wires.

When two vehicles approach so'cl'osely that their shut- -tles make contact with the same pair of line wires, the bells in both vehicles will ring, thus indicating to the Q85 drivers that they are dangerously near to each other.

' To avoid the necessity for reversing switches to maintain the batteries in operative relation to the line when a'vehicle is running backwards without being turned end for end, and also to insure the giving of a signal when'a rear collision is liable, 1 provide on each vehicle a rotating circuit interrupter, which periodically cuts out thebattery, thus leaving the bell free to be energized by the battery on the other vehicle during such time as the local battery is cut out." Details of the shuttle, the overhead switches and the ,battery cut-out device, together with those of the shut- 1.16 and the switches for the line wires, will be explained in run hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure'l is a rear elevation of a locomotive equipped with my improved a modified contact for the shuttle. Fig. 7 is a plan view of the battery cut-out. Fig. 8 is a sectional elevation of the same. Fig. 9 is a diagram showing the sectionalized line wires and the keys at the station connected therewith. Fig. 10 is a plan view of the line wire'switch, on

a larger seale s; Fig. 11 is a sectional longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 12 is a cross section thereof.

Referring to Fig. 1 it will be seen that I provide, preferably at the side'ofthe track, an overhead structure supported on poles 1 and brackets v2, and comprising a plurality of line wires preferably six in number, the inn'er ones 3" being somewhat heavier than the outer ones 4,5, and all suitably supported by hangers 6 depending from -the bracket. As appears in Fig 9., the wires 3, are continuoiis, but-the wires 4, 5, are made in sections, insulated from each other, and the joints in the several wires are staggered as shown.

The railway. vehicle may be of any kind; I have shown asteam locomotive. In the cab of the locomo- -.tive is placed an electric bell 7, a battery 8 and a nor mally closed key or circuit-closer 9, all of these elements'being preferably connected in series. The terminals of the circuit 19 are connected with some suit- .able traveling contact moving. with the locomotive and making contact with the line wires. Preferably I lead the two conductors through a flexible ,cable 11 to a shuttle supported on the line wires 3 and running thereonasonatrack. V

t The shuttle is shown in detail-in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. It comprises, preferably, a body 12 of wood or other insulating material. The body is rather long, and is of a width adapting it to run easily between the wires 3.

At each end, near its top, are outwardly extending studs 13, on which are journaled the wheels 14, having flanges 15 at their outer ends. Adjacent to the wheels are upright rollers 16 suitably journaled and projecting beyond the sides of the body. The flanged wheels support the-shuttle on the wires 3 and the rollers prevent it from rubbing against saidwires. The shuttle can thus move along the wires with the utmost ease.

Transverse arms 17 extend from the shuttle, and are insulated from the body thereof. They are preferably composed of resilient metal, and carry at their outer endssuitable current collectors or contacts. In Figs. 2, 3 and 4 these consist of rollers 18 journaled in frames '19 fastened to the ends of the arms. The rollers bear against the under side of the line wires 4, 5, as shown in Fig. 1. In place of the roller, any other desired contact may be used; such for instance as wire brushes 20, as shown in Fig. 6. There are preferably two sets of wires arranged at opposite angles, so as to partly inclose the. line wires and insure good contact therewith.

' One terminal of the circuit 10 on the cabis connected tothe shuttle wheels, so as to be in constant circuit with the line wires 3, which, as has been statedsre contin ning to the key is connected with the shaft, said shaft none. The other terminal of the cab circuit is connected with the contacts which engage with the sectional line wires 4, 5. If the sections of these wires are,

' say, two miles long, and there are four wires with their joints arranged at equal distances, then two vehicles will signal each other if they both pass at the same in-- stant upon the opposite ends of any given section.

Moreover, no vehicle can approach nearer to another,

vehicle thanone and a half miles. without the energiz- -ing of the bells on both vehicles. I

In such a systemas this, Where each vehicle carries a battery, with its poles permanently connected to certain contacts so that one pole is always in circuit with I .the wires 3-and the other with the wires 4, 5, it is necessary to provide'some means for cutting out the battery when the vehicle is not running, so that the bell will be free to respond to the battery of an approaching vehicle.

, It is also necessary. to provide for alternately cutting the battery into and out of circuit when the vehicle is' running, so that it may energize the bell of another vehicle at regular intervals.- The device I prefer to use for this ""purpose is shown in Figs. 1', 7 and 8'. It consists of a stationary bowl of metal, having a' large segment [21" and a small segment 22" insulated from eachv other. Ashaft 23 is'arraiiged concentric with the bowl and is geared to the axle'.of'-the vehicle so as tobe rotated thereby. Hinged on the shaft is 'a' weighted arm 24 whose endis in electrical contact with the inner surface of the bowl; this surface being a hemisphere, and the arm being pivoted'at the center thereof, so that it .will'remain in contact with the bowl in any position it may assume. As the shaft rotates, the' arm will lie-swung outwardly b'y centrifugal force, and

-' as shown in Fig. 8, inwhich position it remains in contact. with the segment 21, since the segment 22 does not reach quite to the shaft. The conductor 10,fr0m the bell is connected ith the segment '21, and that runbeing insulated from the bowl; One terminal of the battery is connected with the segment 21 and the other with the segment 22. It follows that when the vehicle is at rest, thc'battery is cut out of the bell circuit, which is kept closed through the segment 21 and the arm 24. I But when the vehicle is'running, and the arm makes periodic contact with the segment 22, the circuit is at such periods through the battery to the arm. In this way each battery periodicallyenergizes theline wires,

so that if an approaching vehicle is in circuit therewith its bell will ring. It will almost never happen that the circuit interrupters of two vehicles will be running in synchronism and in the same phase, so to speak, and

unless this occurs, there is no danger of thebatteries- -opposing each other so as to prevent the giving of a signal.

I provide the shuttle with means for making it automatically take the right side .of a switch when necessary. The mechanism is shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and the mode ,of its operation is diagrammatically shown in Fig. 5. At each end i the shuttle-body is a nose25,

wedge-shaped, with the sharp end edge vertical, and

hingedtd the body on a vertical axis at 26. Extending backwardly from each nose is an arm 27 which is pivotally connected at 28 with a lever 29, fulcrumed on the body at 30 and having in its rear end a longitudinal slot 31. A shaft 32 passes vertically through ,the'body and carries atits upper end a crank disk 33 provided with a wrist pin 34 which engages the slots 31 of the two levers,

said levers overlapping at this point, as shown in Fig. 3. I

An arm 35 is hinged to the shaft 32 below the body, on a transverse axis 36, so that it can move up and down but any angular movement is imparted to the shaft; The

free end of this arm is attached to the cable 11 which '75 carries the conductors that connect the vehicle with" the shuttle. Inasmuch as the line wires are supported] at one side of the railway track, the drag on this cable-- causes the arm 35 to stand at an angle to the body of-the' shuttle, thereby partially rotating the shaft 32 and caus- 8O .ing the wrist pin to throw'the levers to one side. This turnsboth of the noses towards that side of the shuttle,

as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig- 3, andas shown in Fig. 5.

Whenever thereis a switch in the railway track, a switchis arranged in the line wires, properly located in the angle bstween'the main and side tracks toreceive the shuttle at the proper time. If the vehicle is to con-- tinue along the main line, the noses of the shuttle keep it from running off on the side line; and similarly, if the vehicle is'switched to the sideline, the; noses of the shut-' i tle will turnto' take the right side of its s'witch. In order to effect this, it is necessary to cross the shuttle line wires .over to the opposite side of the track, as indi-- cated in Fig. 5. In this figure the wires 4 a'renot I shown, for the sake of clearness. One vehicle A is shown on the main line, with the noses of itsshuttle ready to take the main-line side of thejswitch 37. Rn other'vehicle B is shown on the sideline with its shuti Q tle just about to enter the switch, the noses of'this' shuttle having been automatilcally turned to the proper side to take the side-line side of the switch. Thecon struction of this switch is illustratedin Eigs. 10,11 and 12. The top plate 38 is continuous, and suspended I from it are the two jaw'plates 39, 40, lying in the same plane and having between them an opening which con-- verges towards one end. In. the wider end of this opening is located the tongue 41 of the switch, whiehis pivoted to a stud 42 depending from the top plate and is maintained in a central position by means of a spring 1113 43 mounted on an intermediate plate 44. Thewiifs 3 are attached to the jaw plates atone end of the opening,

and their continuations along the mainline and 'side' line are attached to the jaw plates and the'intermediatc 2 i 7 plate; in all cases close to the edges of said plates. 1 15 When the shuttle arrive's'at suchs switch, the wheels 14 roll along'on the jaw plates, and-the nose oftheshuttle enters' between the tongue of the switch and the jaw plate towards which it is turned, thereby crowding the tongue over tomake room for the shuttle to pam on the proper side of itto proceed to the main line or thesidet line, as the case may be.

In Fig. 9 is illustrated the mode in which the station agent'or train despatcher can signal to anytrain inany section of the line. One of the sectional line wires as 5, 1 25 I has each section connected by a wire 45, 45, 45 with" the station, in which keys 46 are placed, one for each section. -The keys are connected in multiple with a bell or other signaling instrument 47 and with the track wires 3 sothat by, closing any-key the despatcherv can asce'rtain'if'a train is in that block or section; the signaling instruments at the station and the train being energized intermittingly by the train'battery ii suchis 'the case, .Should he wish to signal the train, he

can switch in'a battery 48, and by holding the circuit closed, the train bell will ring continuously. It is evident that the station battery inust have its poles connected to the track and iinewires in opposite relation to the poles of the train batteries, so as to act in series with them or any of them when signaling to a train.

Fig. 9 illustrates diagrammatically how two vehicles or trains will automatically signal each other when they both pass upon the same section of the line wires. If

these sections'are each two miles in length, and the four lines 4 and 5 have their sections regularly staggered, as shown, then two vehicles can never get within less resented as both entering on the same section of one wire 5 at the same instant, so that both bells 7 will ring. If vehicle D had run in on the section to the point E before the vehicle 0 entered thereon, it would still be a mile and a half from it. If the vehicle D had proceeded any further before the vehicle C entered on section 5, it would have entered upon a section 5 of the other wire with which the vehicle 0 was already in contact, so that the signal would have been given at the mile and ahalf point.

The advantage in using more than two staggered signaling conductors arises from the fact that the minimum distance within which two trains can approach each other increasesdirectly with the number of conductors. Thus with only two conductors, where the joints in one come opposite the middle of the sections in the other, the trains may approach within one half thelength of a section before signaling. With three conductors, the joints coming successively along the track at distances apart equal to one third of a section, the trains will signal at a minimum distance of two thirds of a section. With'four conductors, equally staggered, signals will be given at not lessthanjthree fourths of a section length. In other words, the greater the number of conductors, the more nearly will the minimum signaling distance approach the length of a section; a condition which of course affords a greater degree of safety.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. in an automatic electric railway signal, the combln'a; tion with -a vehicle, of a stationary overhead structure at one side of 'the railway'track comprising continuous track' 1 wires having a continuous,unobstructed space bctwccn' one side of the railway track comprising continuous track.

wires having a continuous unobstructed space between them, sectional linc wires on each side of -aid track wires and 'having their Joints staggered, a device traveling on said "track wires and supported bctwecn fthom, and carrying on each sidc'an insulated arm making contact with said sectional Wiressignaling instruments on the vehicle, and a flexible cable connecting them with the traveling device and its contact arm and serving to draw said device alone; with the vehicle. p

3. In an automatic electric railway signal, the combination with ;two -contlnuous track wires, of a shuttle having a body adapted to run between them, supporting wheels on each side of said body, upright rollers mounted on said body, and noses at each end of said body pivoted on upright axes.

4. -In an automatic electric railway signal, the combination with two continuous track wires, of a shuttle having a body adapted to run between them, supporting wheels body, and noses at each end of said body pivoted on up right axes, andmcans for simultaneously turning said noses to one side or the other of said body.

In'an automatic electric railway signabthe combination with two continuous track wires, of a shuttle having -on each side of said body, upright rollers mounted on said body, and noses :16 each end of said body pivoted on upright axes, and means for simultaneously turning said noses to one side or the other of said body comprising an upright shaft journaled in said body, and connections be tween said shaft and said neses- (i. In an automatic elcct ric railway signal, the combinatlon with two continuous trhck wires. of a shuttle having a body adapted to run between them, supporting wheels on each side of said body, upright rollers mounted on said body, and noses at each end of said body pivoted on upright axes, and means for simultaneously turning said hoses to one side or the other of said body comprising an upright, shaft journalod in said body,'a crank on said shaft, and levers connecting said crank and said noses.

7. in an automatic electric railway signal, the combination with a vehicle. of a stationary overhead structure'at on'e side of the railway track comprising two continuous track wires, a shuttle adapted to ,run on said wires and provided with noses pivoted on upright axes, an upright shaft in said shuttle connected with said noses, an arm on said'shaft, and a flexible cable connecting said arm with said vehicle. I r

R. in an automatic electric railway signal, the combination with a vehicle, of a stationary dverhead structure at wires and sectional line wires, a shuttle adapted to run on the track wires, insulated arms extending {rem said shuttle, and contact devices on said arms bearing against said line Wil'tS.

9. in an automatic electric railway signal, the combination with a vehicle, of a stationary overhead structure at one side 01' the railway track comprising track wires and sectional .iine wires, a shuttle provided with wheels adapt- -1 d to run on the track wires, insulated resilient arms extending from said shuttle, and contact devices on said arms urged upwardly thereby against said lino wires.

10. in an automatic electric railway signal, the combi nation with a main line oi railway track and a siding, of a stationary overhead structure located at the same side of the tract: as the'siding andcemprising truck wires and scctionnl signaling wires for both the main line and the siding. said wires crossing the siding at the point where it leaves the main line, and a switch 'for said track wires located in the angle between the main line and the siding.

11. in an automatic electric railway signal, the combination with avehicle, of a line wire extending along the railway trnck,;1 traveling contact moving with the vehicle,

' a battery on said vehicle, and means for periodically cut is moving, but keeping it constantly cut out when the vehicle is standing still.

12. ln an automatic electric railway signal, the combination withn vehicle, oi a line wire extending along the railway traclz, a traveling contact moving with the vehiclc, a battery on said vehicle, two stationary contacts connected respectively with the terminals of said battery, and a rotatable contact arm driven by the vehicle andaidaptcd when in motion to make contact alternately with the two stationary contacts and serving to pcrlodlcally'cut the battery into and out of circuit with said lino wire.

on each side of said body, upright rollers mounted on saidone side of the railway track comprising continuous track a body adapted to run between them, supporting wheels ting said battery into and out of circuit when the vehicle 1 In an automatic electric railway signal, the combi-v terminals of said battery, one of said segments being also connected with the line, and a rotating arm making contact with said segments 1nd connected with the line.

1- In an automatic electric railway signal, a circuit interrupter comprising a bowl having two insulated-segments. one of which does notextend to the bottom of. said bowl, a shaft concentric with said bowl, an-arm on-said shaft making contact with said segments, a battery having its terminals connected with said segments, and a linewire connected witl 'one of said segments and with said arm.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWARD B. HOWELL.

Witnesses \VInmAM F. DAVIS, KATHRYN 'i. Bunsnm. 

